Rail lubricator



June 22 1926.-

G. BUROZ RAIL LUBRICATOR Filed Nov.

22, 1923 2 Sheets-Sheet l 3.5mm i? INVENTOR ATTORNEYS wlmfssfs m' June22 1926. 1,590,078

G. BUROZ RAIL LUBRICATOR 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Fld Nov. 22, 1923 WITNESSES 361N VEA/TOR GALBUQOZ A TTOR NE YS Patented .lune 22, w26.

U irl:.i3N

mais i GERMAN BUROZ, OF CARACAS, VENEZUELA, ASSIGNOR OF ONEfHALF TOFRACIS CARACCIOLO, GF CARACAS, VENEZUELA, SOUTH AMERICA.

nari. LUBRIoA-TOR.

Application led November 22, 1923, Serial N`o`. 676,395.

This invention relates to improvements in lubricating apparatus, and hasparticular reference to a mechanism for lubricating railway rails.

It has heretofore been the general practice to apply a lubricant, suchas a mixture of graphite and water, to rails by hand. rlhis operationhas been found to be exceedingly slow and expensive. Furthermore, thegraphite has a natural tendency to separate from the water, unlessconstantly stirred, and forms a sediment in the bottom of the receptaclein which the lubricant is carried, with the result that the solutionapplied to the rails becomes very thin thereby causing the loss ofconsiderable lubricant by dripping from the rails unless eX- tremecaution is exercised in its applica tion.

An object ot' the present invention is to overcome the presentdifficulties and provide an apparatus by means of which a lubricant Vmaybe rapidly and properly applied to a rail and constantly stirred oragitated to prevent separation of the ingredients of the lubricantduring its application.

`Another object is to utilize the' movement of the apparatus on rail' tooperate an agi= u tator which will constantly keep the lubri- `cantstirred while it is being fed to the rail. y

A further object is to control from a common source the' adjustment ofthe lubricant applying means with respect to a rail and thefeeding ofthe' lubricant to said means.

The above and other objects will appear more clearly 'from the followingdetail description, when takenk inl connection with the accompanyingdrawings, which illustrate a preferred embodiment idea.

In theV drawings#- lFigure l is a side elevation, partly broken' awayand shown in section, ot' the' apparatus constructed in accordance withthe invention; Vand i p Figure' 2 is a rear elevation thereof, part-lybroken away and shown in section. p

In its preferred formv tlie invention is shown as rcomprising a base 8having depending therefrom the -frontland rear' hangers l andrespectively, the former of which support the roller or wheel 6, whilethe latter hangers support the shaft 7 upon which is rotatably mountedthe roller 8. The

of the' inventive rollers 6 and 8 are groovecbas clearly indicated inFigure 2, to conform to the con tour of the tread of the rail 9 which isto be lubricated, so that the apparatus will be gui'dedin its movementover the rail.

Secured in any preferred manner on the base 3 is the lubricantcontaining receptacle 10 having an opening l1 in the topV thereof forfilling theV receptacle With a lubricant, such as a mixture of graphiteand water, said opening being normallyy closed by a cover or closure l2.rlhe base 8 also has at-` tached thereto` intermediate its forward andrear ends a handle 13 which is utilized to facilitate the transportationot the apparatus `from place to place when not being used to lubricate arail. Extending upwardly and rearwardly from the receptacle 10 are theopposed members 14: which terminate at their upper ends ina handle 15employed to maintain theapparatus in a vertical position upon the raily9 and propel said apparatus' along the rail. y Y

The bottom of tliereceptacle 10 adjacent the rear end and onesidethereof is'prvided with an outlet opening 16 for'v the' lubricant whichis normallyv closed, byl 4al valve 17, the rod 18 of whichv is slidablymountedv in: al guide 159I secured to the bottom and rearu en'd of thereceptacle; A spring' 2O is disposed between the upper end ofthe guide19 and the valve 17 to exert a downward pressure upon said valve tomaintain the same in its closing' position. The upper' end of the rod 18projects through theft-op of the receptacle 10z and hasl adjacent its"upper extremity a laterallyextending pin 21 designed to be contacted bythe free end of an operating arm 22. This arm is pivotally connected atits opposite end toa lug 23 extending upwardly from the top of thereceptacle lOso as to permit of a vertical. movement of said arm tocontact the 'free end thereofwith the pin 2l and, consequent"- ly, movethe rod 18 upwardly to `open the valve 17. To accomplish this Voperationthe operating arm 22 has connected thereto in@ terinediate'its ends oneend of a flexible element- 24, the opposite end of which is sc'- cu-redto a pin' 25, the intermediate portion of the element 24 being passedaround a series otl guides 26 disposed between' the members lll. The pin`is slida'ble longitudinally ofthe members let and mounted inv a bearing27 disposed between said members ne Y and is provided at its upper' endwith a ring 28 which may be grasped by the operator to exert an upwardpull upon the pin to actuate the operating arm 22.

An outlet pipe 29 is secured to the bottom of the receptacle 10 incommunication with the outlet opening 16 and has its rear open endprojecting beyond the rear end of said receptacle to receive the upperend of a coupling 30 which is slida'bly mounted upon the projecting endof said outlet pipe. Extending laterally from the `upper end of thecoupling 30 is anarm 31 to which one end of a coil spring 32 is secured,the other end of said spring being Vfastened to the base 3, as clearlyshown in Figure 2. The intermediate portion of the spring32 is coiledabout-the upper end of the coupling 30 and by securing the spring asdescribed, it will be obvious that the same will act to yieldinglymaintain the coupling 30 in an inoperative position with its lower endspaced from the rail 9, as shown in Figure 2.

rlhe lower end of the coupling 30 is provided with a laterally extendingchamber 33 having communication with the body of the coupling through anopening 34. A brush 35 is mounted in the open end of the chamber 33 andhas a pressure exerted thereon by a coil spring 36 or other suitablemeans to yieldably maintain the bristles of the brush 35 in contact withthe inner edge of the rail 9 to be lubricated. The lower end of thecoupling 30 adjacent the open end of the chamber 33 is provided with alateral feed opening 37 which permits of the lubricant being feddirectly tothe free ends of the bristles of the brush 35 thus providinga supply of lubricant for the brush in addition to that which flowsthrough the opening 34.

The invention further contemplates the provision of means for moving thebrush 35 into operative relation with respect to the rail 9simultaneously with the adjustment of the valve 17 to an open position.To this end the free extremity of the arm 31 has connected thereto oneend of a coil spring 38, the other end of which has secured thereto oneend of a flexible element 39 which is extended over the two uppermostguides 26 and attached at itsl upper end to the lower end of the pinthus making the pin 25 a common means for exerting an upward pull uponboth of the iexible elements V24 and 39. Upon actuation of the pin 25 asdescribed, the valve 17 will not only be lifted to an open position, butan upward pull will be exerted upon the free end of the arm 31 thusswinging the coupling about its pivotal mounting uponv the pipe 29against the tension of the spring 32 so that the free end of the brushwill be brought into contact with the rail 9. The lubricant flowingthrough the opening 16 and from vthence to the brush through thecoupling 30 will be applied tothe rail as the apparatus is moved alongthe latter. By introducing the spring38 between the arm 31 and theflexible element 39 a yielding action will be effected which willprevent the brush 35 from coming into too close contact with the rail 9regardless of the amount of pull exerted upon the pin 25 and in thisInanner the lubricant will be effectively applied to the rail. Uponrelease of the pin 25 by the operator it will be obvious that the valve17 and coupling 30 will be restored to their normal positions by theaction of the springs 2O and 32, respectively.

The invention further provides means for constantly agitating thelubricant in the receptacle 10 during the operation of the apparatus sothat `the graphite and water will be thoroughly mixed while thelubricant is being fed to the rail. This means preferably comprises anagitating blade 40 secured to a vertically arranged shaft 41 adjacentthe lower end thereof, said shaft being rotatably mounted in suitablebearings and having its upper end projecting beyond the ltop of thereceptacle 10. The upper end of said shaft carries a bevel gear 42meshing with a similar geark 43 secured to one end of a transverselyarranged shaft 44 rotatable in a suitable bearing 45 carried by the topof the receptacle 10. The

end of the shaft 44 opposite that carrying the gear 43 projects beyond vthe adjacent side of the receptacle 10 and carries aV sprocket 46 aroundwhich extends a drivechain 47, which is also engaged with a `sprocket 48carried by the shaft 7 so that as the apparatus is propelled along therail 9 rotation will be imparted to the shaft 41 and consequently theblade 40 through the intermediary of the gearing described.

wWhat is claimed is:

1. In a rail lubricating apparatus, a lubricant containing receptaclecapable of moving along a rail and having an outlet opening, a normallyclosed valve for controlling the flow of lubricant through said opening,a pipe movable with respect to said receptacle and rail and having alaterally extending brush for applying the lubricant to the rail, meansconnecting the pipe and receptacle for conveying the lubricant to saidpipe, means common to said valve and said pipe for opening said valveand moving said pipe into operative relation to said rail, and meanscontrolled by the movement of said receptacle along said rail foragitating the lubricant in said receptacle.

2. In a rail lubricating apparatus, a lubricant containing receptaclecapable of moving along a rail and having an outlet openin@f a normallyclosed valve for controlling thiow of lubricant through said opening,

a pipe secured to the receptacle, a second pipe mounted to turn on thefirst, spring means for holding the second pipe normally in inoperativeposition on the first pipe, flexible elements connected to said valveand said second pipe, and a sliding member to which the HeXible elementsare secured fol simultaneously operating said flexible elements to opensaid valve and move said pipe into operative positions.

3. In a rail lubricating apparatus, a lubricantl containing receptaclecapable of being moved along a rail and having an outlet opening, acoupling connected to said receptaele at one end and havingcommunication with said opening and movable at its other end toward andaway from said rail, said other end of the couplingI having a laterallyextending and communicating chamber and a feed opening at one end ofsaid chamber, a brush yieldably mounted in said chamber and extendingbeyond the same for contact with said rail, the extended portion of saidbrush being disposed lin juxtaposition to said feed opening, andmeans'for moving said brush into operative position in contact with saidrail.

4f. In a rail lubricating apparatus, a receptacle mounted on rollers totravel on a rail, a pipe below the receptacle and communieating with thereceptacle, a valve controlling the communication between the receptacleand pipe, a second pipe mounted to turn on the first pipe and having alaterally extending chamber at its lower end, a spring pressed brush insaidchamber, a spring for holding the second pipe in insaid pipe intooperative position.

ln a rail lubricating apparatus, a receptacle adapted to travel on arail and having an outlet opening, a pipe into which the outlet openingdischarges, a spring pressed valve for controlling the outlet opening, aflexible member connected with the valve, a second pipe mounted to swingon the irst pipe and carrying a brush at its lower free end, a springfor holding the pipe in inoperative position, a flexible memberconnected with the second pipe for swinging it, and a common operatingmember for both of the said ilexible members, whereby upon operating thesaid members the pipe carrying the brush will be swung into operativeposition and the valve opened. GERMAN BUROZ.

. operative position, and means for swinging

